Survey of Anti‐human T‐Cell Leukemia Virus Type I Antibody in Family Members of Patients with Adult T‐Cell Leukemia

• Published in: Cancer science 1990-09, Vol.81 (9), p.884-889
• Main Authors: Momita, Saburo, Ikeda, Shuichi, Amagasaki, Tatsuhiko, Soda, Hisashi, Yamada, Yasuaki, Kamihira, Shimeru, Tomonaga, Masao, Kinoshita, Kenichiro, Ichimaru, Michito
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult T‐cell leukemia; Age Factors; Aged; AIDS/HIV; Antibodies; Biological and medical sciences; Children; Families & family life; Family; Family study; Female; Females; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; HTLV-I Antibodies - immunology; HTLV‐I; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - immunology; Humans; Husbands; Immunoglobulins; Leukemia; Leukemia, T-Cell - epidemiology; Leukemia, T-Cell - immunology; Leukemia, T-Cell - microbiology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mothers; Pedigree; Sex Factors; Statistical analysis; Viral transmission; Wives
• ISSN: 0910-5050; 1347-9032; 1349-7006; 1876-4673
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.1990.tb02662.x

To evaluate the intrafamilial clustering of HTLV‐I, we examined the sera or plasma of 296 healthy family members of patients with adult T‐cell leukemia (ATL) for anti‐HTLV‐I antibodies. Of 296 subjects, 132 (44.6%) had anti‐HTLV‐I antibodies. Fifty‐nine (41.0%) out of 144 males and 73 (48.0%) out of 152 females were seropositive. The positive rates of antibody to HTLV‐I increased with age, especially between the 30–39 and the 40–49 age groups. Five out of 6 fathers, 3 out of 4 mothers, 31 (60.8%) out of 51 spouses, 40 (63.5%) out of 63 siblings and 46 (33.8%) out of 136 children of patients with ATL had anti‐HTLV‐I antibodies. Of 74 children with an ATL father, 14 (18.9%) were seropositive, while 32 (51.6%) out ot 63 children with an ATL mother were seropositive. This difference was statistically significant (P